“When something goes wrong, the first thing I always think is, it is Loki’s fault. It saves a lot of time.”

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

I’m already pretty familiar with the Norse gods thanks to an early obsession with different mythologies, but you don’t pass up an opportunity to read Neil Gaiman’s take on them. Especially if you happen to be in a book shop and see a copy and remember that your boyfriend never bought you a copy despite the number of colossal hints you’ve already dropped. Anyway…

Norse Mythology is a short trip through the stories of the gods – I read it all in one lazy morning in bed – that nonetheless feels pretty complete, with the tales chosen serving almost as a greatest hits. We get to see how the world came to be and how it will end, why Odin is wise and how Thor got his hammer, alongside a whole sackload of other adventures that can mostly be summed up as Loki stirring shit and then trying to avoid the consequences.

Told simply – which is useful as some of the stories can otherwise get a tad confusing if you’re not careful – I loved the depictions of the gods and their drink it, smash it or cheat it approach to, well, everything, and laughed out loud more than once (especially during Thor’s sham wedding and Loki’s penile tug of war).With the stories included running from the comic to the tragic, and the events from the ridiculous to the apocalyptic, whether you’ve read the myths, watched the superheroes or are a newcomer to it all, Neil Gaiman is a great guide to the world of Norse myth.

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